Tire for vehicles.



PATENTED MAR. 10, 1903.

o. SGEAEEER. v

` TIEE EOE VEHICLES.

APPLIGATIONFILED'NOV.19, 1901. BENEWED JA11'. 13, 1903.

2 SEEETs-SEEET 1.

N0 MODEL.

WITNESSES 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOHNE YS.

PATENTED MAE. 1o, 190s.v

o. scEAEEEE'. TIRE EOE VEHICLES. APPLICATION FIYLED NOV. 19, 1901RENBWED JAN. 13, 1903.

' I0 MODEL.

MMM/ E N, A, E

UNrTED STATES ATENT OSCAR SCHAEFER, OE LONDON, ENGLAND.

TIRE Fon VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 722,459, dated March'10, 1903.

Application filed November 19,1901. Renewed January 13,1903. SerialNo.138,830. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, OSCAR SCHAEFER, a citizen of the Empire of Germ any,residing in London, England, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Tires for Vehicles, of which the following isaspecilication.

This invention relates to pneumatic or elastic solid tires which arespecially intended for use in connection with automobiles or other heavyroad-vehicles for which a strong and durable tire is required; and theinvention consists of a pneumatic or elastic solid ti'ie which isprovided with braidings or weavings of fibrous or other material or Wireembedded and vulcanized into the tire.

The invention consists, further, in the process of making elastic tiresby building up alternating layers of unvulcanized rubber and braidingsof yarns or wires and then vulcanizing the same; and the inventionconsists, further, in treating the yarn employed for the braidingsinterposed between the vulcanized rubber with ozocerite or othersuitable material, so as to protect the yarns against injury duringvulcanization without destroying the softness and pliability of thesame.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a vertical transversesection of my improved tire, shown as attached to the rim of avehicle-wheel. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section of a modifiedconstruction of pneumatic tire. Figs. 3 and 4 represent, respectively, aclosely meshed and a Widermeshed braiding employed -in the manufactureof my improved tire; and Fig. 5 is a central section through a completetire in the plane of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

In making a pneumatic tire according to my invention layers ofunvulcanized rubber compound are placed on a circular mandrelalternately with layers of braidings, which are braided on by a suitablebraiding-machine. This can be efficiently done by means of specialbraiding-machines which can be opened out to admit the tire. The tire isgradually built up on the mandrel by means of circular layers ofunvulcanized rubber alternating with circular braidings, so that thetire can be made ready for vulcanization without being taken off thebraiding-machine.

The tire can, however, be made by building continuously a layer ofindia-rubber and a layer of braiding in a spiral around the mandrelwith- 'out 'any joint Whatever until the required thickness of 'tireisobtained-i. e., continuously forming and advancing upon a circularmandrel a tube of unvulcanized rubber and continuously braiding andadvancing upon said tube a layer of flexible material, these operationsbeing continued for any desired number of turns of the mandrel until thedesired thickness of tire is obtained. The unfinished tire thus formedis then completed by applying an outer covering layer of unvulcanizedrubber of any desired thickness and then placing the whole in a suitablemold and vulcanizing4 said outer covering layer, together with thelayers of rubber of the various turns of the tube, into a homogeneousmass. After vulcanization the mandrel is removed by cutting the tireopen at its inner periphery or in any other suitable manner. Theresulting tire consists of two tubular spirals, one of rubber and theother of braided flexible material, the latter superposed upon theformer, each volute upon itself, and the inner Within the outer, eachturn within the next in direction from the interior toward the exteriorof Athe tire, and each turn of the first or inner spiral connected withthe adjacent turns of the same through the second or outer spiral. Thetire thus formed 'is entirely jointless, each turn is unitedY in themost firm and secure manner with the others, and the braiding is underabsolutely equal and uniform tension at the outer and inner peripheries.Internal strains and movements are entirely eliminated or, at allevents, reduced to a minimum and a most practical, efficient, and

durable tire for all kinds of vehicles and one particularly Well adaptedto resist the driving strains produced in the tires of automobilevehicles is obtained.

To avoid loss of strength of the yarns during vulcanization, thebraiding-yarns areimpregnated With ozocerite, ceresin, paraffin,beeswax, or similar material. The nature of the braiding permits thelaying on of the threads under almost any angle and Width of mesh and ata uniform tension, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, so that the drivingstrains when the tire is in use are taken up by the various IOC threadsof the braiding layers in almost equal proportions, While theintermediate layers of rubber are strained very little, if at all. It isbest to build up the tires of alternating layersv of unvulcanizedindia-rubber and braidings, of which the inner braidings arecloser`together than the outer ones; butin some cases it may bedesirable to use closely-woven mate'- rial for the inner layer or layersimmediately surrounding the air-tube and to braid only the outer layerswhich hold the thicker tread to the pneumatic proper, as this tread hasto bear the principal driving strains. The meshes in the braidingsimmediately surrounding the air-tube will be made smaller than themeshes in the braidings which are nearer to the outer circumference ofthe tire. In any case the india-rubber, which is placed on both sides ofthe braidings, will unite through the meshes, so that aftervulcanization the braidings and india-rubber Will be solidly bakedtogether into one inseparable mass, which is almost if not quite aselastic as if there were no layers of textile material at all embeddedin the tire.

The described process of manufacture of the tire can be used withadvantage for the production of any tire, though it is of special valuefor pneumatic tires which have on their outer circumference a thicklayer of indiarubber or so-called tread, as this tread becomesthoroughly united with the pneumatic proper by the intermediate layersof braiding, so that the separation of the tread becomes impossible.Besides this advantage the close union and actual continuity of thevarious layers of india-rubber through the meshes of the braidingsfacilitate the conduction and dispersion of heat and prevent theaccumulation of the same. Braidings are softer and more pliable thanclosely-woven canvas, and when the braiding-yarns are impregnated withozocerite or like substance their softness and pliability is notdestroyed by vulcanization. The treatment with ozocerite prevents thedrying of the yarns during vulcanization and their consequent loss ofstrength, which, together' with the openmeshed braidings employed,causes less generation of heat during driving than when unimpregnatedand closely-woven fabrics are employed. Tires made with such impregnatedbraidings are therefore softer, more pliable, and less liable toskidding than ordinary pneumatic tires. As the separate threads of thebraidings are entirely surrounded by india-rubber and solidly embeddedin the same, the outer layer of indiarubber of the tread of the tire mayWear away in the course of time to such an extent as to lay bare theouter layer of braiding; but this will have no further consequences thanthat the braiding wears also and that the next layer of india-rubberbecomes the wearing surface. A separation of the bared layer ofbraiding, which would invariably occur when layers of canvas are used,is therefore entirely precluded, so that braided tires of theconstruction described have for this reason a much longer life thanordinary tires.

Solid tires which are made by alternating layers of india-rubber andopen braidings produced in the tire itself during the manufacture of thesame as a closed ring are stronger and more durable than solid tiresmade of india-rubber only or solid tires which are made with insertionsof textile material, such as closely-Woven canvas, as the latter kmakesthe tire too stiff and inelastic and cannot be incorporated into therubber in such a manner as to be inseparable from it. It is obvious,however, that in place of the inner layers of braidings layers ofclosely-Woven material, such as canvas, can be used in conjunction withexterior layers of india-rubber and braidings; also, that braidings madeof wire or metallic strips Ycan be used in place of braidings made fromyarns.

The impregnation of the yarns not only preserves the strength, softness,and pliability of the same during vulcanization, but it also insures amore intimate union of the yarns with the india-rubber and prevents thesoaking up of moisture by the yarns when the outer tread of india-rubberis worn off and the braiding becomes bare.

When the tire is made on a mandrel and the feet of the same do notrequire any further shaping, it is vulcanized as a closed tube and cutopen along the inner circumference after vulcanization. If the feet ofthe tire require any special shaping, this must be done beforevulcanization. Tires made of india-rubber and braidings can also bemanufactured and used as endless closed tubes Without cutting them openalong their inner circumference. The inner ends or feet of the tire areattached by bolts to the rim of the vehicle-Wheel, as shown in Fig. l,in which CL represents the rim; h, the interior air-tube; d, the tire,which is built up from layers of india-rubber and braidings c. d is thethickened tread; f, the bolts, Which are passed through metallic stripse, having slotted holes in the inner ends or feet of the tire and of therim and which are attached by nuts g, that are screwed onto the threadedends of the screw-bolts to the rim. The holes in the metallic strips orbands are preferably elongated or slotted in circumferential direction,so as to enable the bolts to slide in these holes when the tire isstretched for being put on the rim. In cases where the feet of the tireare bent in outward direction the inner edges abut against the flaringsides of a raised band and attached to the rim and slip under theinclined sides, while the outwardly-bent feet are bolted to the rim bymetallic strips and bolts in the same manner as the inwardly-bent feet.In the tire shown in Fig.

l five layers of braidings are shown, which are arranged closelytogether in the inner portion of the tire, While the two outer braidingsare wider apart and pass through the IOO IIO

tread and hold the same to the pneumatic proper. In Fig. 2 two braidingsare shown close together surroundingtheair-tube,while the remaining onesare embedded in the thickened layer of india-rubber which forms thetread.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patentl. The herein-described process of making avehicle-tire, which consists in applying a layer of unvulcanized rubberto a suitable core or mandrel in the form of a closed ring, braidingupon said layer a plurality of threads in open mesh, said threads beingall equally disposed and laid on simultaneously and under a strong anduniformtension at all parts, applying a layer of unvulcanized rubberupon said layer of braiding, continuing said braiding and theapplication of said layer of rubber until the same overlap the inner endor beginning, cutting off said braided layer or the threads composingthe same at a point beyond said inner end, applying a nal covering layerof unvulcanized rubber over the mass, and vulcanizing the whole,substantially as set forth.

2. The herein-described process of making a Vehicle-tire, which consistsin applying a layer of unvulcanized rubber to a suitable core or mandrelin the form of a closed ring, braiding upon said layer-a plurality ofthreads in open mesh, said threads being all equally disposed and laidon simultaneously and under a strong and uniform tension at all parts,applying a layer of unvulcanized rubber upon said layer ofbraiding,'continuing said braiding and the application of said layer ofrubber until the same overlap the inner end or beginning, cutting oifsaid braided layer or the threads composing the same at a point beyondsaid inner end, applying a final covering layer of unvulcanized rubberover the mass, vulcanizing the whole, and removing the mandrel or coretherefrom, substantially as set forth.

8. A tire for vehicles, consisting of a body of rubber in the form of aclosed ring, said rubber being under uniform tension in all parts,and astrengthening layer of braided material arranged in a single layer andcomposed of a plurality of threads each intercrossing at an obliqueangle and low pitch with the others, the individual threads of saidlayer being under a uniform tension in all parts and the outer end ofsaid layer overlapping the inner end and separated from the same by anintermediate portion of said body of rubber, which said intermediateportion is connected through the meshes of said overlapping end of thestrengthening layer with the outer portion of said body of rubber,substantially as set forth.

4. In a Vehicle-tire of vulcanized rubber, a braided open-mesh layer ofstrengtheningthreads of fibrous material impregnated with ozocerite, orsimilar materials, substantially as set forth.

' 5. A tire for vehicles, consisting of a tubular body of rubber in theform of a closed ring, said rubber being under uniform tension in allparts, a tubular braiding arranged in a spiral in said body of rubber,and composed of a plurality of threads each intercrossing with theothers, the individual threads of said braiding being under a uniformtension in all parts, and the layers of rubber at each side of eachlayer of braiding being connected with each other through the meshes ofsaid braiding, and a layer or layers of closely- Woven material'at theinner side of said tubular body of rubber, substantially as set forth.

6. A tire for Vehicles, consisting of a body of rubber in the form of aclosed ring, said rubber being under uniform tension in all parts, and abraiding arranged in a spiral in 4said body of rubber and composed of aplurality of threads each intercrossing with the others, the individualthreads of said braiding being under uniform tension in all parts, andthe layers of rubber at each side of each layer of braiding beingconnected with each other through the meshes of said braiding,substantially as set forth.

7. A tire for vehicles, consisting of a contin nous braiding of suitablematerial, passed several times around the tire, in the form of acomplete spiral, and rubber between and over the individual layers, saidtire showing in cross-section a number of layers of braiding alternatingwith layers of rubber, substantially as set forth.

8. A tire built up of several separate layers of braiding, with rubberbetween, each braiding layer forming a spiral which overlaps itsbeginning, and having rubber between starting and finishing end, saidtire showing in cross-section a number of layers of braiding alternatingwith layers of rubber, substantially as set forth.

9. The herein-described process of making a vehicle-tire, which consistsin applying a layer of unvulcanized rubber to a suitable core or mandrelin the form of a closed ring, braiding upon said layer a plurality ofthreads, all of said threads being applied simultaneously and underuniform tension at all parts, applying a layer of unvulcanized rubberupon said layer of braiding, continuing said braiding and theapplication of said rubber several times around the mandrel, cutting osaid braiding, applying a nal covering layer of unvulcanized rubber overthe mass and vulcanizing the whole, substantially -as set forth.

10. The herein-describedprocess of making a vehicle-tire, which consistsin applying a layer of unvulcanized rubber to a suitable core or mandrelin the form of a closed ring, braiding upon said layera plurality ofthreads, all of said threads being applied simultanelOO IIO

ously and under uniform tension at all parts, applyinga layer ofunvulcanized rubber upon Said layer of braiding, continuing saidbraiding and the application of said rubber several times around themandrel, cutting off said braiding, applying a final covering layer ofunvulcanized rubber over the mass, Vulcanizing the Whole, and removingthe core or mandrel therefrom, substantially as set forth.

l1. The herein-described process of making a Vehicle-tire, whichconsists in applying to a suitable core or mandrel in the form of aclosed ring, a plurality of alternate layers of suitable fabric andunvulcanized rubber, braiding upon the outer layer of rubber a pluralityof threads, all of said threads being applied simultaneously and underuniform O. SCHAEFER.

Witnesses:

G. KHN, W. F. LoTz.

